Legislature: Republicans must stop playing games

“Lawmakers need to fix schools. So why aren’t they at the Capitol?” (TNT, 5/11).

As a lifelong Washingtonian and a product of our state’s public education system, I read this article with extreme disappointment in Senate Republicans. They are engaging in childish games at taxpayer expense by refusing to negotiate the state’s budget with the House Democrats based on the bill that the House has proposed.

It is understandable that Republicans have a different vision for how we should fund schools; that’s why we have elections. What is not understandable is that they refuse to even sit down with the other side of the aisle to talk about it.

Please call your Republican state legislators and tell them to do their jobs – and to start negotiating with their Democratic counterparts now.

This story was originally published May 21, 2017 at 6:01 PM with the headline "Legislature: Republicans must stop playing games."